Live Chat software has evolved into a must-have in today’s fast-paced business environment. The numbers are undeniable: Over the last 4 years, 68% of businesses now offer some type of Live Chat experience for their online web and marketing strategies. But are all Live Chat experiences equal?

As a customer service tool, live chat offers the customer experience with immediate gratification in getting answers quickly. This approach requires on-duty, trained agents. For sales, the online conversions are impressive, but often weak in relationship to a companies’ total lead generation potential. Live Chat metrics often lack performance results integrated with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and total impact on sales.

Fact is, the customer experience is evolving to demand live chat because their psychology of controlling the sale. The power of closing a session on their terms is a powerful inducement to leverage future outcomes. Companies offering a holistic service satisfaction inside the live chat customer experience come out ahead because they are able to leverage the psychology of the sale: Visitors do not want to be sold, they want to buy.

Think Differently

How many times have you visited a website only to have “We are Offline” interrupt your experience? You cannot do business with a “Closed” sign out in front of your store! Why not convert the live chat session into a promotional coupon during offline hours? A calendar for scheduling an appointment – yes, even if you are a retail outlet or even a pre-approval form? Introduce the customer experience to an easy and effective way of doing business with your company, this is the point. Make it easy; make it welcoming; make it a rewarding experience. Then track using CRM technology to assure action is followed-up on using automation tools and a consistent and systematic approach.

Consider these 10 Points

1. Joleado live chat increases conversions of leads by offering more than just text to respond to their desires. Remember, live chat works because of the psychology of the sale.

2. Joleado live chat nurtures already established leads and sustains them to become purchasing customers. This is a critical difference in maximizing online conversions. You have to aid live chat with the systematic approach, a holistic approach to every online customer experience.

3. Prospects are given automated and humanized chat sessions during any query, complaint or feedback.

4. Joleado can be automated with forms, promotional incentives, calendar scheduling and even, commerce. Self-directing offline experiences are rewarding and do not impact the selling footprint as much of it can and should be automated.

5. Joleado live chat also does not involve a sophisticated or complicated installation process so it does not pose any such need of technical prowess by the company.

6. Joleado’s call center is useful in situations when multiple store locations or franchises need to be coordinated for a company because of its non-involvement of a large number of human personnel.

7. Application processes, especially offline approvals, aid the customer experience by leading the prospect to a close. Again, the psychology of the sale is leveraged heavily in Joleado’s live chat experience. It works!

8. Scheduling appointments to the company's service calendar is amazingly successful for both B2B (business to business) and retail. Today’s retail climate is getting hammered – online scheduling to the store works.

9. Many small companies do not have manpower to manage a call center. This is why leveraging the automated feature is so powerful – your business is now open 24/7, with no additional manpower requirements. This improves your FTE ratios.

10. Joleado’s big idea is 2-fold: The psychology of the sale must be respected in all live chat experiences. And this live chat experience often does not require a human to man it to be amazingly successful for conversion ratios.

Customer Experience: 4 Points to Consider

1. Respect the Psychology of the Sale: Visitors do not want to be sold, they want to buy.

2. Live Chat is often the beginning of your relationship with your new customer. You better give it more thought than just ease of use and is it “free” – best thought of as a strategic footprint to converting and long-term nurturing.

3. “What gets measured gets managed. Live Chat metrics often lack the key performance indicator that matters most – did the online experience result in a happy and converted customer?

4. Be bold. Retail shops should be scheduling appointments to the store from their online experience. Then when prospects walk into their location with a coupon and a pre-approval they not only buy, they want to buy.

Bottom-line is any time resolution of inquiries for troubleshooting problems and automated lead generation to mature the lead through a strategic and convenient buying process works.